Mike Hughes on TV

1) “Shifting Gears,” 8-10 p.m., ABC. During a tough time for comedies, this has started well; two comedy pros work with fairly clever scripts. Now here are reruns of the first four episodes. Tim Allen plays an auto-shop owner, widowed and cranky; his estranged daughter (Kat Dennings) arrives with her kids. Soon, he’s at their new school (shown here) and she’s working at the shop. Read more…

1) “NCIS: Sydney,” 10 p,m., CBS. All three NCIS shows have moved to Tuesdays, which will be their night this fall. This rerun, a good one, starts explosively (shown here); then it plunges the Sydney team into the shaky world of conspiracy theories. That follows “NCIS” (a fun “ladies night” turns into work) and “NCIS Origins,” with a mourning Gibbs joining the search for a girl. Read more…

1) “Walking With Dinosaurs,” 8-10 p.m., PBS. Back in 1999, this drew praise and enthusiasm. Now it’s been rebooted beautifully, in a three-night series mixing special effects, animatronics and great filming. We see scientists finding bones … then get stories imagining those creatures. This starts (shown here) with a baby triceratops and a 13-foot-high tyrannosaurus. Read more…

1) “Underdogs” (shown here), 9 and 9:54 p.m., National Geographic. This gem offers a three-Sunday, five-hour look at lowly creatures. The first hour (also on ABC at 9:03) shows superpowers, from invisibility to superglue slime. The second has terrible parents, including one that puts her eggs on an 800-foot cliff, with no exit strategy. Ryan Reynolds narrates. Read more…

1) Football, 8 p.m. ET, ABC. There’s one more game … followed by a couple football-free months. This one wraps the second year of the United Football League. The Michigan Panthers (shown here) and D.C. Defenders had 6-4 records during the regular season, then upset the division leaders in the semi-finals. Now they collide for the championship. Read more…

1) “Resident Alien,” 11 p.m., USA and Syfy. Last week, our alien found double trouble: A shapeshifter (shown here) was disguising as Harry (his Earthly persona) … and captors had stolen his alien powers, making him a mere human. Now he’s desperate — as is the mayor … and the half-alien Joseph … and the deputy and many others. It’s a wild and funny hour. Read more…